The Ohio Section's official news source. Keeping amateur radio operators around the world informed of the latest amateur radio news.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

November Edition of the Ohio Section Journal

In this issue:

-> A FINAL PUSH

-> THE TECHNICAL
COORDINATOR

-> AFFILIATED CLUB
COORDINATOR REPORT

-> NATIONAL PARKS ON THE
AIR

-> THE SECTION EMERGENCY
COORDINATOR

-> THE PUBLIC INFORMATION
COORDINATOR

-> THE SECTION TRAFFIC
MANAGER

-> THE STATE GOVERNMENT
LIAISON

-> FROM THE SCOUTING ASM

-> OUT AND ABOUT

-> CENTRAL OHIO HAPPENINGS

-> CARBON MONOXIDE (CO)
POISONING

-> LET'S TALK

-> THE OFFICIAL OBSERVER
COORDINATOR

-> WEBSITE STATS

-> SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS
IN OHIO

-> OHIO HAMFEST CALENDAR

****************************************************

A FINAL PUSH

I am writing to you today
because we are nearing the end of the 114th Congress and the efforts to obtain
passage of The Amateur Radio Parity Act are at a critical juncture. With a few
short weeks left to the year, we must get this bill passed NOW or we will need
to start all over again come January 1, 2017.

As you know, thanks to your
previous efforts, the legislative efforts scored a major victory in our
campaign when the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301, passed in the House of
Representatives on September 12th. The legislation is now in the Senate in two
forms – as H.R. 1301 and alternately in the packaged bill S. 253. We still need every Senator to approve the
bill.

You are one of over 730,000
licensed Amateur Radio Operators living in the United States. Many of you already live in deed-restricted
communities, and that number grows daily.

We asked you for your help in
September - and you responded in great numbers.
We collected over 63,000 emails that were distributed to every single
U.S. Senator. That is amazing. However,
with the election hiatus over, each and every Senator must be reminded that
their business is not complete until this important legislation affecting hams
is passed and sent to the President.

Even if you wrote in the
past, we need you to write again!

ONCE AGAIN I REMIND YOU THAT
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL HAMS TO GET INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS!

If you want to have effective
outdoor antennas but are not currently allowed to do so by your Home Owner’s
Association, PLEASE SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!

If you don’t live in a
deed-restricted community but you care about the future of Amateur Radio,
please support your avocation and your fellow hams and SEND THESE EMAILS TODAY!

We need you to reach out one
more time to your Senators TODAY! Right
away Right now!

Help us in the effort. Please go to this linked website and follow
the prompts:

It’s been a rater busy
month. End of the year projects and
planning are in full swing. I ran the
electronic voting for the LEARA Trustee elections. Voting ended in a never-before-seen tie
between two candidates. It was a great
slate of candidates and noted in the results because the race was close. There was a clear #1 and #2 winner. The #3 spot was a tie. All three candidates received more than 50%
of the total vote. At the Trustees
meeting, we sat the two winners then had a run-off vote among the
Trustees. Since there were 10 Trustees,
the run-off vote could end in a tie so a coin flip may have been the deciding
factor. However, the run-off vote did
not end in a tie and the 3rd person was seated.

Been planning and getting the
end-of-year door prize ready for our Holiday Dinner meeting. Traditionally our club has given away a radio
as a door prize at this meeting. For the
past two years we’ve given away Baofeng radios.
With the findings in the November 2015 issue of QST and similar tests
run by other individuals (Dave KD8TWG being one) I encouraged the group to
consider better alternatives. We settled
on a Yaesu FT-60 HT holiday door prize.

Just this past weekend
(10/12), Bill K8SGX with help from KD8TWG (both Technical Specialists) and
myself made significant forward progress on installing LEARA’s Fusion
Repeater. That project has taken a lot
longer than I would like but hit significant road blocks in the original
plan. Even installing the repeater at
the site caused problems because the handles on the DR1X wouldn’t allow the
cabinet to close. *Sigh.* Had to take out the unit, the 16 some screws
for the top cover, remove the screws for the handles, and put it all back
together. I think one more trip is
required to drill some holes and install some jumper cables. Then, finally, it will be on the air *knock
on wood.*

If that wasn’t enough, I
participated in a DXpedition the weekend of October 22nd. Bob K8MD, Technical Specialist, wrote up an
article.

---

K8JTK, WA8LIV, and myself:
K8MD completed a “DXpedition” to South Bass Island to activate

Perry’s
International Victory and Peace Memorial (NM20) for National Parks on the Air.
After an arduous boat ride (wind and waves were high!) we landed on the island
around 1045. We started setting up the HF station on Saturday at approximately
1130. We operated for approximately 2 hours on 40m. Operating was great! Once
we got spotted, we were frequently piled up. We were averaging over 100
contacts per hour. While the day was relatively sunny, cooler temps and a brisk
wind coming off the lake kept us bundled up. The National Park Service was
extremely welcoming and hospitable. They offered us tables and chairs, which we
declined due to bringing our own. They permitted us to operate on the “back
porch” of the museum. So the wind was mostly breaking by the building, which
was definitely appreciated by us! As long as we kept in the sun, we were
comfortable.

The contacts rate never
really slowed down much, but it was getting near the time they close the
observation deck for the day. So we left the HF setup to head up to the
observation deck at 317’ to try a few VHF/UHF contacts on 146.52 (didn’t have
SSB capability). We made 7 contacts on FM and zero contacts on DMR. Zero
contacts on DMR surprised us, as we had advertised the activation on social
media and received responses that people would be out looking for us. We got on
the DMR repeaters on the Ohio Talkgroup to try and set up simplex skeds. Even
the repeaters were quiet. After coming back down from the observation deck, we
operated HF for another 40 minutes until the park closed. At which point we
packed up and got dinner. When the day was over, we made approximately 240
contacts on HF and 7 contacts on 146.52.

We returned to the park on
Sunday and operated for an additional 3 hours. From approximately 1200 to 1500.
The weather on Sunday was a significant improvement to Saturday afternoon.
Sunny skies, calm winds, and temperature around 65. Operating during these
three hours however, proved to be more of a duress then the previous day. Both
operating and logging proved more difficult due to the lingering effects of the
festive activities from the previous evening. When visiting foreign lands, I
think it’s important to assimilate into the local culture. We found ourselves
in a bar that was both red and round, consuming a strange carbonated gold
colored drink, that was dispensed from a tap. Thinking this was just an unusual
tasting local water, we consumed a great deal. We wanted to make sure we were
properly hydrated and also remain assimilated with the natives. This was Halloween weekend on Put-In-Bay, and
everyone was dressed up in costumes. The
costumes were quite amazing! Despite the
self-imposed adverse conditions from our Saturday night activities, we were
able to log an additional 100 contacts on Sunday, including DX: Croatia,
France, Belgium, Mexico, and Canada.
Again the National Park Staff was very warm and welcoming to us. This was the last day the monument and museum
would be open this year. The park staff
gave us free candy and free popcorn balls at no charge due to the expiration
date happening before they reopen in Spring.

A few different antennas were
utilized, as well as a few different methods to get the antennas off the
ground. I learned that 40m and 80m dipoles fed with LMR-400 is a lot of weight
for my Jackite pole. I need to cut a piece of RG-8X that’s the exact length to
get to the base. Then use a connector to connect feed line to get back to the
operating position. That should lighten the load on the mast. Despite being
stressed, the Jackite pole performed excellent. So much easier to cart around
then the military masts I had been using previously!

I fabricated an aluminum
ground spike for the Jackite pole. Not a good idea: the aluminum ground spike
bent under the weight. I guess aluminum was too soft. The point of the ground
spike was to hold up the mast while I set the guy wires when operating by
myself. We had three people, so it was easy enough for one person to hold up
the mast, while the other two set up guy wires. I’m glad I tried the spike for
the first time when I had other people around to help me, rather than trying the
spike when I was by myself! My portable dipole is a 40m / 80m crossed dipole.
The dipole legs are resonant ¼ wavelength and also act as the guys for the
mast. Perhaps I need to try a 40m vertical on the Jackite pole next? A single
antenna wire might be more suited to the light weight jackite pole. We used the
mast and dipoles on Saturday. Then we used LNR end fedz on Sunday. We used a
slingshot / fishing reel to put the end fed into trees. The 40m end fed was up
an impressive height. The single band end feds into trees was definitely more
simple to set up then setting up the mast and dipoles, and I believe the end
fed was just as effective. Both Saturday and Sunday a 20m LNR End Fed was set
up vertically in one tree. Since it’s a half wave with match box, it does not
require any ground radials. It performed very well with 59 reports into
California and Oregon. It’s this antenna where we worked DX stations in
Belgium, France, and Croatia.

A fun time was had by all,
and we all look forward to similar opportunities in the future.

Bob Mueller, K8MD

---

This was a phenomenal
experience for me as I’ve never done anything close to a DXpedition. Huge thanks to Bob – K8MD as he did much of
the planning and most of the equipment used was his. Andrew brought his go box setup for the
contacts on Perry’s Monument. We made a
total of 350 contacts. Bob worked out
the numbers for NM20. We made 3x the average
number of contacts for all previous activations. Our contacts accounted for about ¼ of the
total number of Q’s through our activation.
Thanks to the National Parks Service for their gracious hospitality and
putting up with us slinging wires and running coax around the park.

“All your lightbulbs are
belong to us”

A pun on the ‘90s meme “All
your base are belong to us” has been used to describe what happened to the
Internet on October 21. There as a
massive DDoS attack on one of the companies that provides core services to the
Internet. Dyn, formally DynDNS, was the
target of this attack. They were known
for providing the previously free, now paid, service of allowing automatic
updating of DNS records without manual intervention. It was used by tech savvy people to access
devices on their home network. I used
this service when I ran my website on a server in my house. The Dynamic DNS service would update my URL
when the IP address of the DSL modem changed.
The company has rebranded to “Dyn” and shifted their focus to more
commercial infrastructure products such as domain registration and email
services.

DDoS (Distributed Denial of
Service) happens when criminals use a large number of hacked, ill-configured,
or poorly secured systems to flood a target site with so much junk traffic that
it can no longer serve legitimate visitors.

DNS refers to Domain Name
System services. DNS is an essential component of the Internet. It’s responsible for translating
human-friendly website names like http://arrl-ohio.org/
into numeric, machine-readable Internet addresses (74.220.207.99). Anytime you
send an e-mail or browse the web, your machine is sending a DNS look-up request
to your Internet service provider (ISP) to help route the traffic.

A DDoS attack effectively
makes a site or service disappear from the Internet. Users cannot access the site because it is
busy handling (what it believes to be) legitimate traffic but in reality, is
junk.

With more and more
multi-megabit connections into our homes and more consumer devices on the
Internet, the amount of junk traffic generated in recent attacks has been some
of the largest seen on the Internet. The
availability of tools for compromising and leveraging the collective firepower
of Internet of Things devices (IoT) has made these large-scale types of attacks
possible. IoT being Internet-based
security cameras, digital video recorders, baby monitors, lightbulbs,
refrigerators, toasters, and Internet routers - to name a very few. Many of these devices are unpatched, not
updated, poorly secured, and essentially unfixable. They’re rushed to market, made as cheaply as
possible (which lends little credence to security), and not supported due to
lack of resources or the company went out of business. On the flipside, it’s also applicable that
users don’t know they need to secure their devices.

Criminals need to build and
maintain a large robot network of these devices (known as a ‘botnet’) which is
time intensive, risky, and a very technical endeavor. Botnet owners make their services available
to anyone willing to pay a couple bucks for a subscription. With a few commands, they can leverage all
devices under their control to attack a target.
In general, with very few exceptions, owners of compromised devices have
no idea their device is part of a botnet.

DDoS attacks are typically:
retaliatory in nature - criminals get offended or upset at some comment, story,
or statement and, in response, knock their service offline. Attempts at extortion - flood a service with
so much traffic it’s unavailable to legitimate users and demand a ransom to stop
the attack. Diversion - ‘hey look at
this massive attack while we secretly do something else over here.’

It is believed the attack on
Dyn was retaliatory in nature using compromised digital video recorders (DVRs)
by XiongMai Technologies. The components that XiongMai makes are sold
downstream to vendors who then use it in their own products.

A DDoS can happen to anyone
or anything connected to the Internet.

I bring up this attack
because our Section Manager Scott mentioned it in one of his mailings and I was
discussing it with Bob – K8MD on our DXpedition. Bob indicated he was seeing a lot of posts
online how something similar could disrupt ham radio digital modes and hams
must stick to analog only modes. His
response was: a digital repeater will still function without the Internet,
which is true. D-STAR, DMR, Fusion, and
probably any other up-and-coming mode repeaters will still continue to operate
without an Internet link. Additionally,
all of these modes will operate simplex without a repeater and without
infrastructure. The Internet is for
linking or sending your message to another endpoint. Then you have resources like PSK31 or Olivia
that do not have any Internet infrastructure component. Digital modes, in particular on the HF bands,
can reach out further than analog modes.

I think it would be possible
to make a backup IP link over another transport (like Mesh) for those modes or
use AllStar - which is great for linking over non-Internet based networks. To go even further with the dooms-day
scenario: if anyone else can get access to your resources, they have the
potential to disturb them. Analog
repeaters too can be jammed, brought offline with a power outage, or sabotaged
by a determined actor.

How can we fix DDoS
attacks? We can’t. The Internet and the protocols in use today
are not much different than originally designed. The protocols were not designed to handle
this type of abuse. Strides are being
made by ISPs so secure their networks as best they can. There is even dissent between providers as to
what steps should be taken. Another
suggestion is to create some kind of IP security association with published
standards, auditing, and a certification process similar to an Underwriters Laboratory
“UL” sticker on a product. Another (less
likely) is to hold companies financially responsible for attacks using their
devices. Less likely to happen because
it could put legitimate companies out of business quickly and would not hold
fly-by-night companies responsible.
Until then, these devices will remain a danger to others until they are
completely unplugged from the Internet.
That’s not going to happen. We
like our stuff.

Hi everyone, How are you
enjoying this beautiful fall weather? Hopefully, it’ll hold out till at least
Thanksgiving! There’s always a lot to be thankful for here at the home QTH. One
thing is that the number of Ohio Amateur Radio clubs just keeps growing. A year
ago, we had 99 affiliated clubs in the Ohio section. 20 of them were Special
Service Clubs. Now, let’s fast forward a year. As of November 13th,
we have 108 clubs, and 27 of them are Special Service Clubs. That is awesome!

I’m still tossing ideas
around for December, but In January’s column, I’m going to re-visit the
advantages of ARRL affiliation, and why your club should become a Special
Service Club. Remember, most clubs are already qualified for Special Service
Status. The only thing missing is the paperwork. And, since I mentioned
paperwork, since a lot of clubs hold elections at this time of year please
don’t forget to update your clubs contact info at www.ARRL.org

So, let’s talk about Field
Day. This is one of the biggest club activities that I know of. The results are
out; let’s have a look. First of all, you can find the results at

Overall, there were 2,696
stations listed in the results. That’s down a bit from last year’s number
of 2,719. Now, let’s filter out all but
Ohio section entries. Congratulations this year goes to Delaware ARA, the
overall top scorer in the section. Second place went to the Portage County ARS.
There’s a lot more info to be found in the results database, so I invite you to
pour a cup of coffee, and spend some time with the results. The next Summer
Field Day is only about 7 months away, so time to begin making plans. Your
competitors are.

I said Summer Field Day,
because I wanted a lead-in to Winter Field Day (WFD). WFD occurs on the final weekend
of January and is under the management of the Winter Field Day Association.
Complete information can be found at http://www.winterfieldday.com/.

I know that operating in
January in the outdoors isn’t many peoples cup of tea. But, you don’t have to
operate outdoors to have fun in this one. Operate from your club shack, or the
shack of one of your members. Or, consider renting a cabin at one of your local
City, or State parks. In other words, you don’t have to operate outside to have
fun! However you choose to do it, it’s a cool way to get your members together
outside of meeting night. Let’s not forget your new Hams, either. Operating HF
under the guidance of an Elmer might motivate them to upgrade.

With that, I’m going to tie
the ribbons on it. I’d like to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving, and
maybe will hear you on the air this weekend in the ARRL Sweepstakes.

Hi
NPOTA Peeps, It’s another month, but not winding down at all. The group goal is
to wind up this year with 1 Million QSOs. Can we do it? Yes, we can. There’s
been some increased activities on the bands and it looks like activity will
continue to run strong until the end of the year. Don’t expect a lot of
activity on Thanksgiving, or Christmas Days, though.

Mary,
N0TRK has been tracking the numbers on a daily basis, and posted the following
report to the NPOTA group on Sunday, November 13th:

Okay..
as of about 8:00 am CST we had made 839,669 Contacts for NPOTA (per the
NPOTA Stats page)! That leaves us a mere 160,331 to go!

To
make that 1 Million QSOs we need to have 23,879 per week and in the last 7 days
we made 24,586 - Our daily average for the last 7 days is 3512 and we need to average 3472 per
day- Keep up the good work!

So, there you have it. What can you do to help? Simple, get on and operate,
work those activations. Even if it isn’t a new park in your log, you may be a
new contact for some activator. Better yet, get out and activate. Here in Ohio,
we are fortunate to have so many National Park units within easy driving
distance.

I’d
like to give a tip of the hat to all the activators. Here in Ohio, Eric, WD8RIF
continues to dominate the top of the Activator Leader Board. Dennis, AI8P is
closing the gap, though, followed by Mark, WN8U, and Jeff, KE8BKP. I’d like to
single out Jeff, though. He is not only a Activator, but a chaser as well, and
has now entered the 400 club. Very Impressive, Jeff!

So,
it's November, and it's cold, so I may as well forget about activating for the
rest of the year, right? Not at all! Don't tell that to Bob, K8MD, who recently
made yet another trip to NM20, Perry's monument. Or, to members of the Alliance ARC who will
be at First Ladies Library (NS16) this weekend.

So
make your plans to get out there, and activate. This is an event which won't be
repeated in our lifetimes, so let's make the best of it.

You know, I may sound like a
broken record to some of you. And the
reality is, most of you will actually know what that means!

You can be proud of all that
Ohio ARES has accomplished. I say “You” because you are the ones doing it! We
met the challenge in July (hope you read the CQ article in October!) with
flying colors. Those events, and the more regular events such as the marathons,
rides, and even the smaller level emergency responses we do over the course of
a year all go together to keep amateur radio as a viable communications
resource…just the way we advertise.

I assume you have all heard
me admonish that this is a very important season of the year for us- with most
of the activities done, it’s time to get to some very serious training. We
can’t shoot from the hip any more. We MUST be familiar with NIMS and ICS, we
MUST be in a first-name relationship with our EMA and Red Cross directors. We
MUST constantly work at presenting ourselves professionally. One good idea we’ve been talking over is the
possibility of something like a golf/polo shirt that would help identify us and
help us look more professional. Not in
writing yet, but it sounds good on the surface.
And there’s the constant effort to keep up with technology. Do you buy
that new DMR radio? Or do you branch out with a newer digital HF rig?

I am all of that, of
course. But you might be surprised to
hear me say just as forcefully, “That’s not the most important thing.” And in order to keep our entire life in
proper perspective, one prime directive applies: Keep the most important thing, the most
important thing. Without reservation I
tell you that amateur radio is not the most important thing. The old adage, “God, Family, Work, Hobbies”
pretty much sums it up. You can apply that however you like, but if you haven’t
yet achieved that grand status of being retired or if you’re on a second career
you are completely guiltless if you have to miss an event or two. If you have a
family gathering it towers over anything we do.
I recently had to miss a local event because we had scheduled a photo
session with all the kids and grandkids. Didn’t bat an eye. My wife KE8BKR is
~very~ understanding; she married into the volunteer and professional
firefighting lifestyle (holidays? What’s that?) She is also very forgiving
during those, “I’ll call- not sure when it’s going to be over” events. But she’s number one. You who have lost your
spouse understand that looking back, right? We have lost several really big
figures in ARES this year- people who have devoted themselves to all that we
do. I recently attended a memorial for a
retired Delaware County EC, who retired because his ailing wife needed his full
attention. Good call – a much more important thing. Their last years together
were sweetened because he kept his priorities.

Look, ARES is not much
different from any volunteer organization. The 80/20 rule applies. 80% of the work is done by 20% of the people.
I’m preaching at the 20%. I love you for all you do, and don’t give up! But
keep the important stuff at the top of the list.

As for the 80%. Let’s try a
different approach.

Plainly stated- if you’re
going to commit to be a part of ARES, then for Pete’s sake be a part of
it!! You must be aware that in order to
participate you will need to devote some time to train, some time to serve your
community, and yes, some (OK- lots!) of money to be ready for “The Big One.” The volunteer fire service has a question,
“What if they had a fire and nobody showed up?”
Pretty glum results, right? In
some cases, we’re going to ask you to put more time into the program- be a part
of ARESMAT, or do something above and beyond. If you want to carry the card,
you should be ready to do the work…it’s that simple. EC’s shouldn’t have to
pull their (remaining) hair out trying to get members to respond. My advice to you is figure out ahead of time
how much time you have, and how much you can devote. But even with this call to action, the prime
directive still applies.

The Voice of America Museum,
just outside of Cincinnati, served as the perfect backdrop on Saturday
November 12th for the presentation of the Hiram Percy Maxim award to
Ohio’s Chris Brault KD8YUJ.

The national ARRL award is
presented to a young amateur radio operator who exemplifies the many great
attributes of amateur radio.

I got the chance to talk to
Chis and at 13 years old he’s a lot smarter that I was at his age. He’s a very
nice young man. I asked him about his plans for college but he’s pretty focused
right now on getting to High School!

Chris got a chance to work
some 40 meter contacts after the ceremony and his first contact was…W1AW!! He’s
real pro on the air and if you get chance listen for his CQ. We certainly need
more young amateur enthusiasts like Chris and I can’t think of a better
example. Congratulations Chris!

By the way, if you ever get a
chance, check out the Voice of America Museum in West Chester. It’s the site of
the former Bethany Relay Station for the VOA and it’s full of historic
equipment and memories!

They are open once a month
for tours and I guarantee you’ll want your basement to look just like the
inside of this mega transmission facility. The West Chester Amateur Radio
Association also as their club shack at the VOA Museum.

Amateur
Radio on TV

Amateur Radio is showing up
again on a network television show appropriately called FREQUENCY!

The show is about a police
detective that solves her cases by talking to her deceased father on amateur
radio…although they call it “the ham”!

They play pretty fast and
loose with the operating procedures and, apparently, it’s all duplex as they
wander around the room talking without a push-to-talk switch in sight. There’s
plenty of vintage amateur radio equipment on the screen but the microphones
look like they were bought a couple of years ago.

While I appreciate seeing
“the ham” on TV I just wish they would consult a real amateur for some real
world advice…or advice from whatever world they are portraying. I think we
could help.

Tim Allen’s show, Last Man
Standing is doing a pretty good job with presenting amateur radio correctly.
There are lots of camera shots with Tim’s Ham Shacks (he has two) in the
background. Occasionally Tim will get on the air, he actually holds a valid
license, but sometimes his daughter will take to the air without any ID or
license. However, she does us the push-to-talk switch!!!!

There are over 1000 cable and
satellite channels now. There should be room for all Amateur Radio network.
I’ll work on that let you know!

Cloud
Cover

If you store your ham radio
computer data on a “CLOUD” you could be in for some stormy weather. Last month
my CLOUD got lost…along with all of the files. After a few days of panic…it was
found and restored. However, before I could make the changes for a local
storage the second storm hit…Windows 10 is now locked up with very little hope
of retrieving what I have stored on my computer’s hard drive.

I’m the not the only this is
affecting so just plan accordingly if you have a lot of stuff you don’t what to
lose. Stand along hard drives are less expensive than recreating the last six
years of your life in data!!! And, yes, if you missed my column last month…this
why. I owe you another column and I guarantee if won’t get lost or rained on!!

2017
Newsletter Contest

Just about two months left
before the 2017 Newsletter Contest gets underway… and I can’t wait.

Remember you need to submit
two newsletters of your choice to be entered or you can do what a lot of folks
do… send them every month. I read them all and thanks, in advance, for making
me the most intelligent ham radio guy on the planet!!

I bought the judges dinner
last week and they are ready go for another year.

Good Luck! You guys are the
best when it comes to promoting our great hobby.

These are the Ohio NTS HF
daily nets, frequencies, times and net managers. All licensed hams are welcome to check in
with or without radiogram traffic.

BN(E) Buckeye Net Early – CW –
WB8YLO NET MANAGER – 3580 at 6:45 PM

BN(L) Buckeye Net Late –
CW – WB9LBI NET MANAGER – 3590 at 10:00 PM

OSN Ohio Slow Net
– CW – W8OLO NET MANAGER – 3.53535 at 6 PM

OSSBN Ohio Single Sideband Net – Phone – KC8WH NET MANAGER –

3972.5 at 10:30 AM, 4:15 PM AND 6:45 PM

Last month I introduced you
to CW with my article Why Morse Code? I will continue with this theme for this
month. I you missed the information from
last month it provided these links to use for learning Morse code. Remember that you are not going to count dot
and dashes a 5 WPM but you are going to want to start at a higher speed and
learn the sounds.

Listed at this link are W1AW
code practice transmissions for the dates and speeds indicated. The files are
in MP3 format, playable using Windows
Media Player, RealPlayer or your
favorite MP3 player. The files are
updated every other week.

W1AW also has on air code
transmissions. You will find this information at this link:

Code
practice text is from the pages of QST
magazine. The source is given at the beginning of each practice session and
alternate speeds within each session. For example, "Text is from November
2010 QST, pages 9 and 81," indicates that the practice session's
plain text is from the article on page 9 and its mixed number/letter groups are
from page 81.

Eastern
time zone code transmissions are at 9 AM (1300 UTC), 4 PM (2000 UTC), 7 PM
(2300 UTC) and 10 PM (0200 UTC) Tuesday through Friday and alternate between
slow speed one day and fast code next.
Code bulletins are also sent but
at 18 wpm only. You can check this out
at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule

If you would like to try a
slow speed traffic net here is what the preamble for the Ohio Slow Speed Net is
like. (3.53535 at 6 PM)

I want to thank Scott for
appointing me your State Government Liaison (SGL) for our Ohio Section. As they
say, I have some big shoes to fill because our outgoing SGL, Nick Pittner,
K8NAP did so much for Ohio hams when he spearheaded passage of the Ohio PRB-1.
Further, Nick wrote the pamphlet Ohio’s
Amateur Radio Antenna Law, which is distributed throughout the state at
hamfests and other amateur radio gatherings. You can also find it on our Ohio
Section website

So, what are my duties? The
League requires that I collect and promulgate information on state legislation
and regulation affecting amateur radio with the goal of making sure that these
laws work to the mutual benefit of society and the amateur radio service. I
will be working with you both individually and through your clubs as I report
to Scott and the League.

Therefore, I will need your
assistance in alerting me as to any proposed legislation that you feel might
affect our hobby. For example, over the years hams who monitor their local
government legislative bodies have alerted me to proposed ordinances concerning
cell phone towers that were overly broad and could have impacted ham towers.
Another example is a suburban city that elected to ban cell phone usage while
driving unless it was hands free. Such a law, if written too broadly, could
prevent you from operating your mobile rig.

There is a whole list of key
words to watch for if you are a government watchdog such as: antenna, mobile
radio, scanners, antenna radiation, biological effects of radio signals, radio
interference, headphones in automobiles, etc. If you are aware of any proposed
legislation in your township, village, city, county or our state government,
please let me know so that I may carry out my duties and help all amateurs in
Ohio to enjoy our great hobby.

A few weekends ago (Oct.
28-30) I had the privilege of attending the Simon Kenton Council, Ohio Valley
District Fall Camporee not only as a Scout Master with my troop, but also as a
ham radio operator. The camporee was held at Mount Oval, just outside of
Circleville, Ohio. Phil Freeman, who was
heading up the camporee, asked me to set up a ham radio and teach the scouts
that attended a little about amateur radio and also to go over some of the
requirements for the Radio Merit Badge. Needless to say, they didn’t have to
ask me twice!

As the sun came up Saturday
morning, the entire camp (about 80 in all) met for the flag raising. There is
something about watching the American Flag going up the flagpole against the
back drop of a rising sun that definitely puts a lump in your throat! After the
flag was up and announcements were made, it was time to get the ham station set
up. As I’ve told you in the past, setting up a station for a group of scouts
doesn’t have to be complicated. As you can see in the picture, mine was just a
simple setup.

The first part of the morning
consisted of a couple timed events. The event I did was giving each group a
copy of the morse code characters and after they looked at it, each scout in
the group had to send their name in morse code. When the group was finished, I
took their overall time and got an average time for the group. The group with
the quickest average time won. Even though they didn’t know morse code, each
scout had their hand on a key and they all did pretty well.

After the timed events were
over, it was time for the merit badge part of the camporee. At my area, I had a
good size group of scouts doing the Radio Merit Badge. The scouts were really
impressed as we tuned thru the bands and they were able to hear people from
other countries. When we would find a morse code signal, they would listen for
a character then look it up to see what the letter was. I had a great time
talking with the scouts and working with them on the merit badge. Sometimes with scouts it can be like trying
to herd cats, but there is no funnier group to be with!

With a limited amount of time
before lunch (did I mention that scouts LOVE meal times?) and other activities,
we weren’t planning on the scouts being able to walk away with merit badges.
But the scouts did get a lot of the requirements done. One of the things I did
was to do the requirements that involved ham radio. That way they could work on
the rest of the requirements at home and once they have all the requirements
completed the can contact me or another Radio Merit Badge councilor to sign off
that they completed it.

It is interesting to note
that as the boys were coming around to my station, so were the adult leaders.
Quite a few adults were asking a lot of questions and showed a lot of interest
in becoming hams. So by setting up at a scout event, I was able to plant the
seed of amateur radio in the young and old alike! And all it took was a couple hours of my
time.

Remember, it’s not difficult
to show off our wonderful hobby. The main thing is to not over-think it. Keep
it simple and not very technical. Though we have been in the hobby for many
years and know all the jargon and model numbers and manufacturers, those
outside of the hobby don’t. The simpler you make it, the better they will
understand and remember. So get out there, set up a radio at a scout meeting or
a scout campout and have fun! Setting at a radio table with a cup of coffee as
you watch the sun rise is one of the best memories you will have!

And for all the hams that
have helped out the scouting program and those that plan to help the next
generation of scouts, WE SALUTE YOU!!

I attended three amateur radio club meetings this month: Cambridge
Amateur Radio Association (CARA-W8VP), Zanesville Amateur Radio Club
(ZARC-W8ZZV), and Muskingum Valley Council (Boy Scout Leaders) Radio Club
(MVCRC-W8MVC) meetings. This was the first annual meeting for W8MVC, which was
led by its call sign trustee Matt Murphy, KC8BEW. They held elections, discussed voting and
non-voting memberships, dues, how often they will meet, whether or not to have
a web site and/or Facebook presence, when the next meeting will occur and
where.

I also attended the Guernsey County Amateur Radio Emergency Service
(GCARES) meeting and participated as a GCARES member in the Simulated Emergency
Test drill from home. I, along with
seven other ARES members from Guernsey and Muskingum Counties, took part in the
Muskingum County Health Department’s Drive Thru Flu Clinic at the Muskingum
County Fairgrounds, which lasted eleven hours.

I travelled to the Muskingum Valley Scout Reservation in Coshocton
County on October 15 for Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) to help provide information
and demonstrations of amateur radio capabilities to any of the hundreds of Cub
Scouts in camp that day. Of the many years that I have helped with this activity,
it was the BEST weather ever!

I ran two of CARA’s four weekly weather and ARES/NTS nets. I was one of ten CARA members who helped with
registration, lineup, and communications for the Byesville Halloween
Parade. I, also, attended seven amateur
radio meals and participated in a Laurel exam session.

We are back to standard
time. Since I am working on 80M band fills I am looking forward to the
winter propagation but, not the snow.

On a more important note,
November marks six years since Frank Piper (KI8GW) selected me to be the
Central Ohio Assistant Section Manager. Frank (KI8GW) I want to thank you
for offering me the opportunity to represent the ARRL. I had fun time.

Scott, I want to thank you
for allowing me to continue as ASM - Central Ohio. Delaware, Fairfield,
Franklin, Knox, Licking, Madison, Marion, Morrow, Pickaway, and Union counties
have a lot of clubs and even more Field Day operations. I attended as
many as I could and made many new friends along the way.

With that in mind I have
informed Scott (N8SY) that I will step aside December 31st 2016 at 23:59 UTC.

If you want to give back to
the hobby I encourage you to contact Scott (N8SY).

See you at an event near you.

That's all for this month.

73, Fritz, WD8E

****************************************************

CARBON MONOXIDE (CO)
POISONING

Hi Gang,

I’m sure that a number of you
are asking what the heck is the Section Manager writing about this stuff, it’s
not Amateur Radio related!! Well my
friends, you are very mistaken. It’s not only Amateur Radio related, it’s
something that as a HAM operator you may not ever have thought about. Where's
your ham shack located? In the basement, garage or out building? Most generally
ham shacks are not in the living room or main part of the house. As such,
heating devices are usually some sort of a supplemental heater/furnace, and
that’s why I’m writing about this.

First, let’s describe what
Carbon Monoxide (CO) is. Carbon Monoxide (CO) is the poisonous gases emitted
from carbon fueled heat sources (i.e.. gas or fuel oil furnaces, wood burning
fire places or stoves, kerosene heaters, propane heaters). I could go on but I
think you get the idea. It’s colorless, odorless and it will definitely kill
you if you breathe very much of it in. How does this gas kill? It actually
migrates into the blood stream and replaces the oxygen in your blood with the
Carbon Monoxide. Once it invades your blood stream it will be with you for a
very long time, in fact, most of your life! Just ask any firefighter about
that. Going into burning buildings without a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus
(SCBA) on will definitely subject you to Carbon Monoxide poisoning, and it
takes years and years to get it out of your system, if ever. Sometimes, if
consumed in a large enough quantity, you may need a complete blood transfusion
to just keep you alive. Yes Virginia, it is that deadly!!

Why am I writing about this?
It’s very personal to me. A number of years ago a very close friend (and his
entire family) died in their sleep because they consumed Carbon Monoxide (CO)
without knowing it. They lived in an old house on the north side of Mansfield
and because it was old, it was drafty with leaks around the doors, windows and
the walls didn’t have any insulation in them. We had gotten a cold snap in
early November, and back in the middle 1970’s kerosene heaters were all the
rage to supplement heat in just this kind of house. Well, with the help of my
co-workers we were able to purchase a big kerosene heater to help them through
this cold snap. They got the heater all set up and running and all was fine for
the first several days, then on the third day the dad came to work complaining
of a very bad headache. None of us thought much about it that day and the dad
continued his job on the assembly line with the rest of us. The next afternoon
we all found out that the heater had been malfunctioning and every member of
the family had died of this very dangerous gas.

I was absolutely torn apart.
I had been one of several people at work that help take up the collection to
purchase the heater. It took me a long, long time to get over that. Don’t get
me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with using these types of supplemental heating
sources, but be very careful when you do. At that time CO detectors were truly
non-existent for homes, and the ones that were available were for scientific
and commercial use and cost hundreds and hundreds of dollars. That’s all
changed now. CO detectors are as cheap now as smoke detectors. You can get one
for as little as $10 now. That’s an extremely cheap form of protection from
this deadly gas.

Winter is almost here. I
don’t know about how it is at your house, but here in the little burg of
Lexington, when it gets cold outside, you’ll see the smoke coming out of many
chimneys around here. That means that the temperature has dropped to below
where it is comfortable. This is the point where the furnaces come on and
people start thinking about lighting up the fireplaces and so forth. Now if
these devices haven’t been recently serviced, birds can make nests in the
chimney’s and like your car, the heat source most likely needs a tune-up to
make sure that it’s running efficiently and safely. Having the chimney stuffed
up with bird nests or the heat source not burning correctly can cause Carbon
Monoxide to accumulate in your house without you even knowing it. That’s where
the CO detector comes into play.. Please, please buy one, or two of these
really inexpensive CO detectors for your safety and use it! During my trips
around the state.

By the way, it’s not all
about detection either. Do you have a properly rated fire extinguisher within
your reach? If not, get one. Learn how to properly use it. It will save you
from a lot of damage if you know how to use it properly. Don’t assume that all
you do is pull the pin and squeeze the trigger. It’s about knowing how to sweep
and aim at the base of the fire. Do yourself a HUGE favor, buy a cheap
extinguisher and teach your entire family how to properly use the extinguisher!
Yes, even the kids need to know how to use it!

Wow.. Did someone leave the refrigerator door
open? It sure has gotten colder out.!!! It’s with a very heavy heart that I have to
report to you that this past week I put my motorcycle up for the winter. Yup,
it’s no fun in Mudville for me until next spring when I get it back out and can
just be free on two wheels once again!

** Now, switching bands to
another subject.. **

I want to thank all the 122
entries from Ohio in the 2016 Field Day. I’m limited in space so I will just
congratulate all who participated and took the time over that Saturday and
Sunday in June instead of pointing out individuals. There’s been a lot of
emails flying around these past several days with more statistics in them than
a weather forecast, so for me it’s best to just say “thanks to all.”

The weather, for the most
part cooperated, but unfortunately the bands didn’t. Scores were impressive
however. It seemed to me that the big guns had the same changes of doing well
as the little guys this year.

I can tell you with all
honesty, I gained 5 pounds on my travels to all 14 Field Day Sites that I went
to. One thing that stands out is the fact that we can operate under the worst
conditions, AND we like to eat! I want to thank all of you for your
graciousness and wonderful hospitality at each of your sites.

** Now, switching bands to
another subject or two.. **

Have you seen the NEWEST
“Handbook Giveaway” drawing on the website yet? It’s there..!!
There will be 2 drawings this month, 1 for Thanksgiving and 1 at the end of the month. The first winner will be announced on Thanksgiving day - November 24th and the second one will be announced on December 1st.
Each winner will be notified by email, so PLEASE use a valid email when completing the form, this is the only way I have of contacting you if you win.

Hey.. Be sure to enter early. If you enter the drawing BEFORE the November 23rd deadline, you'll automatically be entered for both drawings!!

To enter the
drawing all you need to do is fill in a couple of boxes on the form.. (your
name and email). That’s you need to do to be entered into a drawing to win a
2016 ARRL softcover Handbook. There’s nothing else required (Oh.. You do need
to be a resident of Ohio to win..) The
winner will be mailed the Handbook at my cost. This is being offered just to
see how many folks are really checking in on the website. Got the idea? Best of
luck to you!!

****************************************************

Are you getting those emails
from me? If not, all you have to do is to “Opt-In” to receive them. Heck, just
send me an email n8sy@n8sy.com I’ll
get you added to the mailing list. There’s a link to do this on the Ohio
Section website, it’s on the bottom left corner.. For your convenience, here’s
a direct link to it:

http://arrl-ohio.org/forwarder/forwarding.html I urge all of
you to make sure that everyone, regardless of whether they are a League member
or not, get signed up for one of these options. You can always “Opt-Out” at any
time if you feel this is not what you were expecting.

** Let’s shift bands once
again.. **

Let’s talk about the Ohio
Section Website.. You can find the Ohio Section Website at: http://arrl-ohio.org If you don’t have
this website set as your home page, I urge you to do so. It changes a lot and
it’s so important for you to be kept up to date with the very latest
information.

** There’s another NEW – one
question – questionnaire on the Ohio Section Website! This question is really
important for me to know.. It will only take about 2 seconds for you to answer
it, and you can see how your answer stacks up with others instantly. If you
haven’t done it yet, please do.. I really want to hear from you.

Are you a member of the
ARRL?? If you aren’t a League member, this is a great opportunity to become
one. Want more information on how to join? Here’s the link: http://www.arrl.org/membership-levels. There’s even a 90 day FREE trial that you can apply
for if you’ve never been a member.. Got questions about being a member or what
the League is all about? Send me an email
n8sy@n8sy.com I’ll be happy to call or write to you. We can
even meet and have coffee if you’d like.. and I’ll buy!!

** One last spin of the
dial.. **

Lastly.. I’m always available for you, whether you’re
an ARRL member or not. If you have any questions, concerns, or would just like
to sit and chat awhile over a cup of coffee or something cold to drink, feel
free to call or write me (419) 512-4445 or n8sy@n8sy.com

That’s going to do it for
this month. I hope to see you all at your hamfests, club meetings or on the
air!